Crystal River current., 1887-04-02
ABOUT PATENTS.
How the. once Is Managed and
Whence Inventions Corne-A
Strong Contingent from the
NohlA A RIM n. r.f Graz,


Noble Army of Cranks.
In the matter of ingenuity the Amer
lean people, lead the world. writes a
correspondent of The New JIoyk Herald.
More appliactions for patents are re-
cslved and more patents are granted
1t The patent office in this city than in
any other two countries of Europe,
Great Britain comes next on tha list,
France third. and Germany fourth. It
was not until 1886 that the patent office
was organized as a separarate bureau
with commissioner and suitable as
sistants for the proper discharge of its
duties. 1t is rather a singular fact that
during that year only l application for
patent was filed. The next wear the
number increased to 1O6. The increase
has steadily grown, until in 1886 21,-
797 applications were filed. The whole
number of patents granted since 1886
is. in round numbers, 355. 900. The ap-
plicatlons for patents are regarded as
good index OF the general prosperity of
the country, When times are dull in
ventors realize that capital is slow to
risk the success of their experiments.
On the other hand, when money is
plentiful it is a poor inventor who can
not hnd someone willing, at least, to
pay the legal expenses necessary to the
taking out of his patent. 1t way be
said en- pGssa,st, if this theory of the
patent officials holds good, that the
country was never in a more prosper
ous condition, inasmuch rs the number
OF applications for 1886 exceeded by
several thousand those of any preced-
ing year.
More patents have been granted to
the citizens of New York than to those
OF any other state. This is ow lng prob
ably to her large population. Upon
this hypothesis Pennsylvania takes the
second place, and according to the
same reasoning Illinois or Ohio should
come next, but the truth is that Mnssa-
chusetts holds the third place, with IL
linois fourth and Ohio fifth. The char
acter of the application usually denotes
the locality from which it proceeds.
For example, applications showing the
inventor to be man OF high scientific
education mainly come from New York.
Massachusetts,, or Connecticut. I'm.
provements in cotton and sugar ma
chinery are the work almost entirely of
southern inventors. The development
OF inventive genius in the south has
been remarkable during the past de-
cade. This is especially SO in Georgia
and Texas, the two most progressive \
states south of Mason and Dixon's line.
The applications from the south, as re-
Gently as 1872. were only fraction OF
those filed from the North. About 1875
change was noted, and the increase
since then has been relatively as great
as that of the northern states.
Inventions are the natural sequence to
to demand in that direction. When
fnInnhnnn e., s.~
stance. men began turning their atten-
tion to subordinate devices necessary
to make the telephone system COM
pletc. In this particular branch more
than one thousand applications
have already been received. 1t is SO
with railway accidents. The effect Of |
the recent horror near Tiffin, o., has
been to deluge the Office with dozens
of applications for heating and lighting |
railway carriages different from that at
present employed. Within three
months after the great NJ. M.waukee hotel
ire, q few years ngO. more than a hun
dred applications for tire-cscapes were
filed. Even the Charleston earthquake
had the effect of stimulating half doz-
en- inventions for detecting the ap.
proach of such disasters.
Thomas A. Edison, of New York, has
the honor of receiving more patents
than any other American. past or pres
ent. His applications number 7Ol, and
the list is still growing.
1t is curious fact, according to tho
best authorities in the patent office,
that the three best commissioners it
las ever had were Ohio men, The first
commissioner who recognized. the Of
flee and establshedithe present code Of
practice. was Samuel S. Fisher of Ohio.
MI IN ~E |
the distinction OF equal rank with Mr..
Fisher, while the last of the trio is Ben
Butterworth. now a representative in
congress from the first Cincinnati dis
trict.
1t is related of Gen. Leggctt, that
when lie accepted the commissioner
ship it was upon the express UNDER
standing from President Grant shat he
should be wholly independent of the
secretary of the interior in the matter
of appointments and dismissals. He at
once began clearing out the ''dead
wood" rs he expressed il. and almost
the first man. dismissed was a nephew
of Gen. Grant. The latter instructed
Commissioner Leegett to reinstate the
clerk, but the commissioner reminded
Grant of their understanding, and the
result was that the nephew was trans
ferred to another department..
Itwould require a volume to enume-
rate the different applications for pat
cnts made by the crank element. While
their applications cover every variety of
subjects, the most alluring field to them
is aerial navigation. "A few years ago
Frederick Anderson, an Englishman
residing ut Southampton, sent to the
office here drawings for flying ma
ching upon which he desired a patent
A few weeks later he appeared at the
Office in person and offered TO demon
strnte to the officials the utility of his
invention. The machine was carried to
the top Of the building. The inventor